


Andante

by takaraikarin



Category: Bandom, Cobra Starship, The Academy Is...
Genre: Contemplative Fic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Angst, Touring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-09
Updated: 2013-04-09
Packaged: 2017-12-07 18:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/751878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takaraikarin/pseuds/takaraikarin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He smiled through the dawning realization of Tom shutting himself off, his eyes cold with silent fury.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Andante

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** ‘Andante’  
>  **Author:** Takarai Karin  
>  **Pairing:** Gabe Saporta / William Beckett (Cobra Starship/The Academy Is…)  
>  **Rating:** PG  
>  **Warning:** A noticeable amount of fluff, along with mild angst.  
>  **Disclaimer:** No owning. Just fangirling. No suing.  
> 
> 
> For [](http://we-are-cities.livejournal.com/profile)[**we_are_cities**](http://we-are-cities.livejournal.com/)’ [feb 10 07](http://community.livejournal.com/we_are_cities/tag/feb+10+07) and [jan 30 07](http://community.livejournal.com/we_are_cities/tag/jan+30+07) prompts.

 

William shoots another glace at the tall form walking a few steps before him, noting the soft scuffing sounds the boy’s sneakers made against the pavement.

Gabe was all easy touches and light steps when he followed the rest of Cobra Starship and The Academy members out of the hotel, pushing at each other to get out and explore Singapore –William had tested out the word a few times, and it still feels weird in his tongue; spicy and foreign. Chislett had pull out his guidebook –because he’s efficient like that- and said something about a shopping district. Siska beamed at him, excited, turned to Tony and asked to go there.

‘Where?’

‘Orchard Road,’

Tony consulted his watch, and then the local guide, and went ‘Okay,’

And really, there they were just a bunch of overexcited tourists –loud boys with loose wallets, William thought to himself- nobody gave a second glance at them except for a few girls that gaped and pointed and one boy that tapped uncertainly at The Butcher and gushed out a string of adorations and finally a plea for an autograph. Mostly they were left to do as they please; meaning Ryland got to stand for twenty minutes inside an art and craft shop and Siska got to shop for weird t-shirts –and Vicky got to try to dress him.

William followed the group around, scanning things fleetingly behind his sunglasses and spared one ear for conversations.

That was when he felt breath against his cheek and a voice saying- ‘your indifference is scary, Billy,’ and he’s very ready to turn around and roll his eyes at Gabe or flip him off. He knew it was Gabe because he’s been saying the same damn thing since they got to meet again for the world tour. He would readily roll his eyes at him because really now, tell him something he _didn’t_ know.

It’s this thing he’d been doing for a while now. He used to consider it an _acquired skill_ , complete with a twitch on the corner of his mouth and the sharp taste of irony on his tongue. It’s in the way he sees his surrounding through a lens very much like his glasses. In the way he got a ready smile for every fake ones he received, one that could surface even through bile in his throat. A drink would always fix that.

He smiled through the dawning realization of Tom shutting himself off, his eyes cold with silent fury. When some time after that the look changed into ‘I’m not dealing with you anymore’ and Tom let a closed door parted himself from the ear-splitting music and the crowd _–and William-_ he smiled on his way to the bathroom and then laughed and laughed until he’s leaning against the wall, sick to his stomach.

He woke up the next morning and washed his face, and in the mirror he realized he could smile still. But he’s rather unsure whose face it was staring back at him

Months after that he’s still wearing that unfamiliar face, plastered with instant smiles, and he felt so- automatic. The world feels padded and unreal when you’re looking at it behind glossy indifference. If he was being honest he’ll admit that he’s starting to scare himself. But he hadn’t been honest to himself for a long while.

Fall Out Boy met up with them on their Canadian tour and Pete took one look at him before cornering him in the dressing room. Admittedly, when all of the energy and sizzling intensity that made up Pete Wentz zeroed in on you, it could get unsettling. William wasn’t really sure how you can glare down a guy way taller than you, but Pete managed.

‘Snap out of it William, this could get ugly,’ he said, real concern in his tone.

William’s smile almost _–almost-_ faltered, but then he asked ‘uglier than it already is?’ and it was with a grin on him. Pete’s frown deepened and before he knew it he had placed a hand on the back of the vocalist’s neck and was pulling forward, placing their brows together. William tried to struggle free but the hand was unrelenting and a determined Pete Wentz was never easy to shrug off.

‘What you need, man? Just- we can fix this, just tell me, okay?’ he said, jaw set and voice terse. The hand on his neck was gentle –though insistent still- but the arm next to his face was tense, muscle flexing. He felt Pete’s eyes on him as he was staring hard at the floor. He knew Pete could smell the alcohol in his breath, but he felt like he needed to stop breathing anyway.

‘Christ, Bill, you-’ he lifted his impassive face to look at the bassist and Pete cursed again before pressing his lips firmly on William’s lips, wincing at the stillness; the placidness in the younger boy’s mouth nauseating him. William should giggle a bit and kissed back or smack him over the head and told him to find a boy-toy to mess around with. He sighed against William’s lips, his mouth just a soft pressure now on the boy’s lower lip and it felt, more than anything, like a plea. When he pulled back there was a resolute little tremor on his body. ‘We’ll fix you.’ he said with grit. ‘Let’s get you some place different kay, not here. No way near here.

We’ll fix you, Billy,’ and he smacked a kiss onto his temple before pulling away, instantly calling up people and coming out of the room to yell at more people and among all of that William thought he heard the word ‘world tour’ every now and then.

If possible, Gabe’s reaction was somehow worse than that.

He took one look at him from across the room while still exchanging greetings with the other members –one arm hooked around Mike’s shoulder- before meeting eyes with William and froze.

His eyelids lowered a fraction, becoming these calculating slits that made William felt the need to draw his body back and folded his arms against his chest. Suddenly Gabe was in front of him, smiling this weird _formal_ smile that William had never seen before. And between the chills running down his spine and the discomfort in his belly, he just really, really didn’t want to feel Gabe’s eyes on his person again.

The days after that found William tried avoiding Gabe as best as he could. True that the older boy kept a certain safe distance from him, but his shrewd eyes and how William could almost hear the wheels inside his head turning –and not knowing towards what direction- were disconcerting to say the least. So Gabe spent most times silent and watchful, and William smiled and laughed and wished he wasn’t being watched.

The first time Gabe whispered to his ear- ‘your indifference is scary, Billy,’ William had a drink in his hand and it shattered into millions of sharp edges and he felt like the whole club froze to look at him.

For a second William forgot how to laugh.

After that, if he didn’t remind himself, every time he felt Gabe close to him he flinched a bit. And to his misery he realized how Gabe circled closer around him since then. Leaning into his personal space and looking deep enough William could feel it on his skin and always stopping a breath away from touching.

His breath hitched a bit every time and he wished Gabe would’ve stick to molesting and groping him in every opportunity. That was easier to handle.

Letting his mind came back to the now as Ryland dragged their guide to help bargain a flat little intricate figurine, William plucked another wooden doll off its stand, faking interest.

A hand entered his vision and took the doll away from him. William turned around with dread and realizing that it was indeed Gabe. He placed the item back in its place and without warning used that same hand to circle William’s wrist.

He audibly hissed and Gabe turned, eyes conveying his own surprise. It’s like miniature earthquakes spreading across his skin, seeping into tiny cracks in him he wasn’t even sure he had. There’s a little tremor in Gabe’s hand that betrayed his composure and it was the only thing that stopped William from snatching his hand back.

‘Come with me,’ Gabe said, and it was a whisper; his hand tugging a bit and it was a plea.

William made himself break the contact with Gabe’s eyes and looked back at the rest of the group. ‘Tony said we should be finish by-’

‘You never listen to Tony,’ he retorted, accompanied by another gentle tug, and William’s feet had already moved one step forward before he realized it. Gabe looked down, noticing, and there was a small quirk on the corner of his mouth and William gave up.

At first he thought Gabe was trying to take him somewhere, but after random turns one after another he realized they were just walking aimlessly. He would’ve said something to protest, too, if not for how Gabe would stop sometimes and stare at buildings and things with avid curiosity in his eyes. William cautiously observed him from behind his sunglasses.

That is, until Gabe turned to look at him and snatched the glasses away.

‘What the-’

‘Stop that.’ The older boy said and the curse died on William’s tongue. ‘Come on, we’re sightseeing, stop that,’ he shrugged and held his wrist again. Out of spite –for not having the last word and for admitting the boy’s right _again_ \- William jerked his wrist free and walked faster, letting Gabe followed him a few steps behind.

That’s when he –felt first, and then- heard the humming sound against his neck and before he knew it Gabe had placed a firm arm around his shoulders, near forcibly slowing down his stride.

‘Gabe!’ he wasn’t sure why Gabe was testing his patience, he really wasn’t.

‘Shh, we’re sightseeing,’ he repeated, mouth placed against William’s left ear ‘we’re not in a hurry to go anywhere,’ the boy sighed at that, and at the arm now placed snugly around his waist, letting his feet fell into step with Gabe’s.

It was a bit awkward at first, he wasn’t sure if Gabe really walked this slow normally. But Gabe leaned in and whispered at him to look at this and that; constantly pointing things that caught his attention in a steady warm breath against William’s cheek. When he looked down again their feet was walking in rhythm.

There was a small blur of motions near his legs that he wasn’t really aware of and the next thing he knew he felt a bump against them and a loud wailing. Near the ground now.

He looked down and there was a little girl there, _crying_ , while a multicolored lump that William decided used to be an ice cream settled on his brand new oxford.

He considered freaking out, but then settled on crouching in front of the girl instead. She’d stopped wailing, but was still hiccupping as tears flowed in steady streams on her cheeks. She’s maybe- five? Six? Her skin a gleaming shade of brown and she’s wearing a sundress that looked new.

‘You okay?’ William asked before thinking she may not understand him. But she looked up, and looked at the hand William held to help her up –if she wanted to get off the pavement- and seemed to understand enough.

‘No,’ she shook her head and something in the way her tongue stressed the ‘o’ made William thought Latin America.

When Gabe crouched along beside him and started talking Spanish, he knew he was right. The girl nodded and shook her head ardently after every line Gabe said, and then she pointed at the melting lump on William’s shoe and her expression was so unhappy that he understood instantly what she meant.

He rose and looked around him –at the back of his mind remembering them walking in front of a café with an ice cream box at the front. He was right. It was just a few meters away and the attendant –a smiling little Chinese woman- helped him picked out the most colorful cone of ice creams possible. He walked carefully back making sure the ice cream was unharmed as he approached the girl, who was now on her feet and seemed to be chatting happily with Gabe. The boy was still crouching in front of her and on his lips was that faint crook of a smile William had seen earlier, and he felt the need to close his eyes first and count to ten, waiting for his stomach to settle, before he could approach the two.

‘Here you go,’ he said to the girl, absurdly pleased as her eyes widened and her smile bloomed.

‘Gracias,’ she squealed, taking the cone from him and William understood as much to pat her head and mumbled a ‘you’re welcome,’ she beamed back at him, and, as if just remembering something, widened her eyes again and started prattling to Gabe in rapid sentences that seemed endless before Gabe laughed and patted her head too. She smiled and waved at him. Then she tugged at William’s pant leg and waved again. ‘Bye, mister,’ she said before dashing away.

William watched her until she’s completely swallowed by the crowd. ‘I hope she won’t fall again,’

‘I’m sure she’ll be fine,’ Gabe said, his voice near him, and when William turned his face he was as close as he thought, smiling sleepily like he was just woken up by sunshine. William stopped breathing.

‘Why are you smiling?’ he whispered, afraid of raising his voice lest it would be shaking.

‘You’re smiling too,’ he replied and William noticed he was right.

‘But I thought you hated that,’ _the laughter and the smiles, I thought you hated that._

‘Not when it’s like this,’ William felt Gabe’s fingers touching his arm, following the path of the miniature earthquakes on his skin until they wormed around his pulsing wrist.

He felt Gabe’s lips on his cheek, feathery soft and warm, and it’s kind of ridiculous how fast it made William’s heart race considering they’ve done so much more than that. Against his ear, Gabe chuckled like he heard what William was thinking, breathy and familiar like an old lover’s, and William couldn’t help but to laugh a bit, too.

It just felt natural. It felt right. And if he noticed how the world looked clearer as he raised his head; if he noticed how the colors looked more vivid and the people walking around them more real, he only smiled wider and said nothing.

He felt the hum against the side of his neck, the vibration on his skin; felt an arm snaked around his waist again and this time readily followed the rhythm in Gabe’s voice accompanying their steps.

They walked forward.

**Stop.**  


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